PLAY is the highest form of RESEARCH. ~ Albert Einstein

Time Well Spent

“Children want to talk about differences including gender and skin color. It’s our job to make talking safe for them”. ~Eric Hoffman. I learned a lot through Eric Hoffman’s work. He was someone I had never heard of until my coursework here at Walden. His lessons will forever be in my heart.

I learned a deeper understanding of my own biases. I was able to better understand able-ism as a prejudice and I was able to confront my own biases with homelessness, along with other personal findings regarding biases throughout my coursework.

Get to know the child first and foremost, build that relationship, before moving to broader topics such as race, culture, traditions, values, and beliefs. My understanding and passion to value children as individuals has grown. I want each child to develop a secure sense of identity and pride.

My Long Term Goal:

To become a professor as well as a parent educator. I want to inspire future educators to do what is best for children, just as I have been inspired myself. I also desire to start parent education in my community and then build that parent education program statewide.

A Farewell Message:

As happy as I am to be completing my Master’s Program and advancing my career, I am going to miss the constant learning and growth that takes place within a school community. I am thankful for all of my professors and colleagues who have inspired me, pushed me, and validated me. I look forward to pursuing my career, inspiring others, and becoming an advocate of social change.

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4 thoughts on “Time Well Spent”

Marijean,
I agree that children need to be exposed to diversity at a young age, and that we as educators must make children feel comfortable talking about their differences. I too enjoyed the information given by Eric Hoffman, as I had never heard of him either until this program. I learned a lot about diversity in my undergraduate coursework as well, and I was glad to build on my current knowledge via the courses in this program, as one can never learn too much! It was a pleasure getting to know and work with you, and I wish you a happy and successful future! 🙂

Marijean, I love how you pointed out how important relationships with children are. Children need to know you care before they will work for you and learn from you. I’m happy to have completed this program as well, but will miss the interaction between all our professors and colleagues. I’ve leaned quite a bit from everyone. I wish you the best of luck in accomplishing your goals! I have confidence you will be able to inspire many!

Marijean,
I also will miss the weekly collaboration and learning. It has been really difficult meeting deadlines at times, the sleepless nights, mind bubbling assignments have all served to make us stronger. We can now go forward knowing that we are trained to make a positive change. We are now equipped to make a difference in the lives of children and families. I am inspired by your interest in parent education and take this opportunity to wish you all the best in your future endeavors.

Marijean,
I have enjoyed working with you throughout this course. I can see your passion for anti-bias work. I agree that we need to truly get to know the children and families that we are working with. It is about so much more than what is on the surface. We need to understand ourselves and then understand everyone else. It always goes back to good communication and building strong relationships. I wish you much success in everything that you do. Continue on your journey. I know that you will make an impact on the field of early childhood. Congratulations!